On October 1, 1961, 19-year old Sal Durante made national headlines when he caught Roger Maris' 61st home run ball during a contest between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. Durante was later flown out to Seattle for the 1962 World's Fair where he was offered $1,000 by fair officials if he could catch a baseball tossed off the Space Needle's 600-foot high observation deck. Fearing that such a stunt would actually be extremely dangerous, the ball was dropped from a Ferris Wheel on the fairgrounds instead. Durante dropped the ball, but was granted the $1,000 reward in any case after explaining that his wife would kill him if he returned home empty handed. Red Sox pitcher Tracy Stallard, the man responsible for the fateful pitch, graciously accompanied Durante to Seattle for the publicity stunt. Stallard played one more game for the Red Sox in 1962 before being transferred to the Seattle Rainiers for the duration of the season.